Atlanta Family Medicine Physician
I saw a patient in Urgent Care for a wound caused by drunkenly walking into something the night before. He admitted to already having spent time in prison for endangering others by driving while intoxicated. He wasn’t driving this time, but obviously he has not stopped binge drinking. While his use did not suggest alcoholism,…Continue Reading “The burden of binge drinking”
My husband and I decided to take an Improv 101 class. We will soon “graduate” from 201. Instead of a diploma, we get to perform a showcase. Does this sound fun or terrifying? For me, it is both. Improv class has gotten in the way of my blog writing, but it has been worth it. …Continue Reading “Want to focus, connect and practice mindfulness? Try Improv!”
The tick-tock of the clock is painful, all sane and logical. I want to tear it off the wall. Eve 6 “Get More Done” I used to think about time differently. For a while I thought I accomplished more in a day in my youth than I do now, but no, I simply have added…Continue Reading “How to “Get More Done””
At a recent conference, the palliative care physician and author, Dr. Kathryn Mannix, spoke about death and the process of dying. She asked for those of us having witnessed death to raise our hands. In a typical lecture hall, she might see 10% of hands raised. But, in a room of physicians, 90% of our…Continue Reading “Narrating Death”
I’m now gray. It took over a year to bleach enough color out, grow enough of my natural out and to overall transform to my natural gray hair. I remember 10 years ago I complained to my colorist about the changing texture of my hair and he responded, “Well, gray hair is wiry.” I took…Continue Reading “#SilverFox or #GrannyHair”
Photo by Paul Chambers on Unsplash
Margarita on the beach. Pucker up.
There is no better place to watch science in action than in the world of medicine. It was discovered in the 1930’s that blood, in the presence of a certain streptococcus bacteria, did not clot. The agent formed by the bacteria was isolated and eventually called streptokinase, the first “clot buster”. Through the decades, pharmaceutical…Continue Reading “Clot Busters”
As a family physician, one of my main jobs is trying to help patients change their unhealthy habits. Advice such as lose weight, exercise more, get more sleep, quit smoking, or drink less alcohol all require a change in daily habits. Smoking cessation statistics show just how hard it is to change our habits. Ninety-three…Continue Reading “Commit to change”
I’m reading The Great Believers, by Rebecca Makkai. It is stirring up quite a few memories from my time as a medical student. It was 1994 when I met my first patients dying of the AIDS virus. I was a third year medical student – unworldly, eager, hopeful. This was also the year AIDS became…Continue Reading “The Great Believers”